Dirty Dishes
by Thrawn-the-artist
Summary: Mara learns that there's a big difference between a teenager and stormtroopers.


Title: Dirty Dishes  
Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars nor these awesome characters.

"Ben!" A female voice rose from the kitchen. "Blast you!"

Setting down his datapad that he'd been working on, Luke turned his head in the direction of the kitchen. Luke knew that sound, Mara was about to unleash her wrath, probably on some poor un-expecting soul, over whatever it was that had just set off her temper.

Getting up, Luke rushed into the kitchen to find Mara, rigid with a look of a commanding officer fuming over having his orders disobeyed, and holding two plates in her hands and muttering old Imperial curses under her breath.

Turning to face Luke, Mara tossed one of the plates to him. "Just look at it!" She yelled tapping her foot impatiently and gesturing to the plate in Luke's hand. "You know when your superior tells you to do something. You do it!"

Luke examined the plate in his hand trying to decipher what had sent Mara into a tizzy. "What's wrong with it?" Luke asked finally after he could not detect anything wrong with the dishware.

"If your son wasn't so kriffing concerned about smashball with his friends…that plate would have been cleaned." Mara yelled her voice icy.

Ben was always Luke's son when Mara was angry with Ben. For some reason, Mara liked to look over the fact that even when Ben wasn't perfect he was still as much Mara's son as he was Luke's.

Realization dawned on Luke. Thirteen-year-old Ben had cut few corners with his chores to get to the big smashball party at Ben's friend Kole's house. Luke couldn't even remember all the times he'd pulled, or tried to pull, that same stunt on his Uncle Owen just so Luke could go race speeders with Biggs.

For all the great qualities Mara had as a mother, she often forgot that she wasn't the commanding officer and that Ben wasn't a disobedient solider. It wasn't a bad thing necessarily, but it did cause Mara to freak out over, what usually were, very small infractions. Like two dirty plates, that probably were more or less clean and perfectly fine.

"Now, Mara." Luke said setting the dirty plate on the counter and stepping closer to his wife.

"Don't Mara me, Skywalker!" She said trying to avoid Luke.

Luke ignored her and stepped within arms reach to his angry wife.. Taking the dirty plate she was holding out of her hand and setting it on top of the other plate he'd just set down. "Mara…"

She cut Luke off, "When I tell him to clean the dishes. I expect those dishes cleaned. Not whatever that was…"

Luke nodded amused. "Dearest, Ben isn't a stormtrooper." Luke said brushing some loose hair away from her face.

"Still doesn't give him reason to skip out on his chores." Mara countered still fuming. "And stormtroopers did what you told them to do," she added.

"No." Luke agreed. "But it's just two plates and the offending party at this moment happens to be thirteen not in white armor." Gently, Luke wrapped his arms around her waist. "You also happen to be his mother- not his commanding officer."

Mara sighed exasperated. "If he's old enough to build and use a lightsaber he should be old enough to finish his chores."

Luke smiled, sometimes Mara was clueless in understanding children/teens. Luke couldn't blame her, being raised by a Sith probably hadn't been the best role-model for a girl. But it was entertaining to see the moments where her lack of experience with family showed. It made Luke thankful to have had his aunt and uncle to teach him how to deal with things like misbehaving children.

"I don't see how this is funny to you."

"It's just that Ben reminds me of myself," Luke said. "Do you know how many times I skipped out on doing things I was told to do?"

"Yeah, well where I come from it's called insubordination." Mara muttered.

Luke sighed. Sometimes Mara could be stubborn and impossible. Especially so, when Luke was trying to inform her that she might be overreacting.

"You're telling me you never slacked off in assassin training when you were a teen?" Luke asked changing tactics.

"No. Unlike you, I happened to have been very responsible."

Luke snorted. "Really. You never fudged even a little on, I don't know, your lessons in how to kill farm boys?

Mara slapped him on the arm. "Not funny."

Laughing at his own joke, Luke said, "It was a little funny."

"Ok, there was this one time." Mara relented. "Just one mind you, that I might have cut some corners on my lessons. I was learning how to defuse bombs, and well I really wanted to watch this fashion show on the holo. But that was the last time I ever slacked off in my lessons." Mara said suppressing a shudder.

"See."

"No, I don't see how this clear's Ben."

Luke shook his head. "I never said I was trying to clear Ben, dear. I was giving my would-have-been assassin some perspective," he said before leaning in and kissing Mara.

Pulling away a moment later, Luke suddenly asked, "Fashion show?" his voice filled with curiosity.

"I was fifteen, and wanted to be a model." Mara defended with a look that made it clear she did not want any more said on the subject.

Luke shrugged. "Learn something everyday."

"I'm still having a conversation with Ben about responsibility." Mara said returning to putting the clean dishes away.

"Just remember he's thirteen." Luke said before turning and leaving the kitchen.

"Yes, Master."


End file.
